


Red

by SmutWithPlot



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-25
Updated: 2013-01-25
Packaged: 2017-11-26 20:10:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/653963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SmutWithPlot/pseuds/SmutWithPlot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Belle is adorably naive, and blind. Drabble for Rumbelle 50 First Hamburger Dates. Gold is wearing red today, and it's Ruby's birthday.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Red

It’s overcast. A storm is brewing. As they walk, he tells her he can feel it in his knee. He insists that it’s more a bother than anything, doesn’t pain him, but when he confesses such things, she wonders what it must be like to have something that whines and aches when the air changes. Secretly, she hopes the prediction of rain is true – of all the interruptions they could have, storms are her favourite – the energy in the air from a good storm is more invigorating than disappointing, and they make her think of the wizard that is her True Love.

Despite the open confession, his mannerisms are restrained, and she tries to tell herself that perhaps he’s had a bad day at the shop as to why it seems he’s a little more withdrawn than usual. She is eyeing his suit – black, with a textured pinstripe that you can’t really see but up close, worn with a dark wine shirt and a bright pop of red in his tie and kerchief.

She fingers the pocket square, wrapped in his arms as she is. “Is this new?” she asks. He buys her new things all the time, it’s only fair.

He frowns at her. “Sorry?”

“This tie and kerchief,” she answers, gesturing to the pair. “It’s just… I don’t think I’ve seen you wear it before.”

“Have I not?” He attempts innocence, and then turns away from her to open the door to Granny’s diner, and she puzzles over it. The evasive answer is not a lie, but it raises a flag. Something is not right, but she can’t put her finger on it.

From behind the counter, Ruby beams at them. “Hello!” she greets, and if her voice is extra cheery, it’s quickly explained as she boasts a large, tacky button that rests on a lapel. “Today is my birthday.”

“Oh, happy birthday!” Belle replies, smiling, any question of her lunch companion’s motives forgotten. “Oh— I’m sorry, I didn’t know. I’ll have to get you something later.” Beside her, Rumplestiltskin says nothing.

Ruby bites her lip as she looks to the Dark One. “A nice tip, perhaps?”

“At the very least,” he answers, his voice strained.

Belle waves him away. “Don’t mind him. He’s a little extra grumpy today.”

Ruby flips open her pad and poises a pen and feigned interest. “What’ll it be today?”

“Two hamburgers, I think,” Belle answers, as if ordering on a whim. “Iced tea for me, coffee for him…” As she speaks, he is walking to ‘their’ booth, and she scurries half a step behind – he seems determined not to linger.

“Don’t forget the pickles,” he grumbles. “Dill.”

“I won’t,” Ruby replies, and she’s rolling her eyes in good nature before turning to add their order to the list. She doesn’t even write it down anymore, just the initials “RB”. The cook knows what it means.

“So… Ruby’s birthday,” Belle notes, smiling. “I kind of forgot people do that… Birth days. Name days.” She beams at Ruby, as she arrives with their drinks.

She lingers a moment, expecting something, and looks between the two of them.

“…Having a good day so far?” Belle is pleasantly surprised that he looks to the wolf with the question, his voice the soft, kind one that needs more exercise.

Ruby shrugs, her face holding a small smile that she is trying to restrain. She nods. “It’s good.”

Rumplestiltskin nods, and looks down to his coffee.

Belle smiles, proud of his interaction. She beams at her friend. “Get anything fun or exciting yet?”

Ruby shrugs again, this time her grin silly and big. “Maybe…”

Belle tilts her head down, expressing her interest, lest the girl explode.

She straightens, her fingers clutching the notepad, and she pronounces proudly, “Someone sent me three dozen roses this morning.”

Belle’s jaw drops. “Oh, Ruby, that’s fantastic!” She even claps her hands together. “Who was it?”

Ruby twirls, and smothers her smile in an attempt to be alluring. “A secret admirer. They didn’t say who they were from, and your father was less than forthcoming about it.” She winked. “They must have paid him well to keep the secret.”

“Yes, must be terribly difficult to bribe the florist,” came his snarky remark. Belle chided him with a look. Granted, she wasn’t quite on talking terms with her father yet, but that was no excuse to be rude to _Ruby_ about broaching the topic.

Ruby’s eyes rested on him. “You know… I always loved that shade of red,” she noted, pointing a pencil at his suit. Rumplestiltskin looked down at himself, as if he’d not realised what he was wearing.

“Oh. You noticed, too?” He sighed, as if very troubled by the attention. “Everyone loves me in red.” He hid his face behind a mug of coffee, and Belle rolled her eyes.

“See what I mean? Extra grumpy.”

Ruby smirked, knowing. “I see.” She waved the pencil. “Granny’ll be out with your burgers in a bit, I’m sure.” And she winked at them both. “Enjoy.”

Belle watched her go, amused by the way she insisted on sashaying away. But when she turned back, Rumplestiltskin was watching her, too. There was a dark, haunted look to his eyes.

She moved to get into his line of sight. “Hey.”

He turned to her, and that sad smile returned. “Hey.”

She reached over the table, and he took her hand. “Does that count as an interruption?”

He huffed. “Only if we’re lucky.”

He is sipping his coffee, and her mind drifts back to the evasive answer. She rests her chin on one hand, as her thumb trails over his knuckles. “So… That’s not a new tie, is it?”

He hesitates, and she knows she’s got it right. His lips purse as he puts the mug down. “No. It’s not.”

She smiles a little. “…You knew it was Ruby’s birthday, didn’t you?”

His eyes flicker towards the bar – no, towards the waitress – and then back at her. Brown eyes meet blue, and they blink once. “Yes. I did.”

She beams. “And you sent those roses, didn’t you?”

_“Alright, you.”_

They’re broken apart by the gruff address from Granny, and she drops Rumplestiltskin’s plate with a huff, and Belle’s only slightly less so, which startles her. The old dog glares at him over her spectacles and waves a finger in his direction. “I’m watching you, so don’t you do anything funny, y’hear?”

Rumplestiltskin’s eyes are hard, but he feigns nonchalance. “Why, whatever do you mean?”

“You know what,” she bites back, and huffs back behind her counter.

Rumplestiltskin watches her go, and a brow cocks.

Belle tilts her head to the side. “You did say your relationship was… complicated, right?”

He pulls his attention back to her, and his expression softens. “Yes. I think that’s what I said.” She knows he _knows_ it’s what he said, because he’s the one that said it. But he punctuates the thought with a sip of his coffee.

“Well, I think it’s _great_ that you sent her those roses.” She shrugs. “It’s not easy for her, being a werewolf.” She chewed on a ketchup-lathered french fry. “I appreciate you trying to be so kind to one of my friends.”

He stared at her, with that same dumbfounded, dazed expression that was so common on his face – both here and back then. He frowned. And then he shook his head. “It’s no matter,” he said, waving it away, and sipped once more at his black coffee. Outside, the thunder started to rumble.


End file.
